The Game Boy was more than just a piece of plastic and silicon. A successful launch can make you money, but to dominate for more than a decade, you need a killer lineup. The handheld market was uncharted territory, and all the rules were different. It took time for Nintendo to find their groove, but over the coming years, they learned exactly what made a game work on the go.

The early games on the platform weren't very adventurous. Tetris changed a lot of rules, but the rest of Nintendo's first generation of games didn't stray far. The Game Boy was the child of the R&D1 division, and Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Okada spearheaded the company's early attempts to build a library. Super Mario Land stayed close to the proven formula, with gameplay that practically cloned the 1985 original, despite the new team and new scenery. The Game Boy was red hot when the system launched, and Super Mario Land sold 14 million copies anyway, but R&D1 realized their new system had special needs.

To bolster their platform, Yokoi and Okada decided to leverage their own NES hits, starting with Kid Icarus. Myths and Monsters, unlike Super Mario Land, made some concessions for the small screen. The view was zoomed in a bit, and the artwork had stronger outlines and better contrast. They also made levels that could more easily explored, with some actual backtracking to accommodate the closer view. It scored a minor success for Nintendo, but they needed to pull out the big guns.

Metroid II was the obvious answer. With the game's original team behind the Game Boy, it only made sense, and the landmark platform/adventure was already long overdue for a follow-up. It was the first game on the platform with real hype behind it since the system launched, and the expectations were high. R&D1 didn't tamper with the formula, but doing it justice proved a feat in its own right. The detailed artwork was a new high water mark for the system, and the signature exploration remained intact. A battery save helped to make the whole experience friendly to the pick-up-and-play nature of handheld gaming despite its scope. The title is remembered as one of the lower points for the illustrious series, but at the time, few complained.

Of course, the system needed original titles too. For the first few years of the system's life, it was mostly given scaled-down versions of home or arcade games, without much in the way of appealing new characters. In 1992, all that changed with the release of Kirby's Dream Land. The unconventional character was unlike anything Nintendo had tried before. After Sonic the Hedgehog's breakthrough success, "attitude" was the prevailing theme for platform mascots, and even Kirby's TV spot bellowed with a bit of irony that he was "one tough creampuff." But HAL's flying puffball was nothing but cheerful and adorable, and the breezy, casual gameplay and lighthearted atmosphere were hard to resist. Nintendo had added an enduring new character to their canon, and he would soon make his way to console games, spin-offs, and sequels.

By 1993, the Game Boy had hit its stride, but sales were already starting to decline. Nintendo answered as only they could with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, a moment that stands as arguably the finest on the system. In a year dominated by 16-bit consoles that made most Game Boy games look downright primitive, Nintendo managed to deliver a sequel to one of their most beloved series that didn't feel comprised. Recreating the look and art style of A Link to the Past, and the dungeon-heavy design of the original proved to be an irresistible blend. EGM hailed it as "a masterpiece" and the title went on to sell over 3.8 million in its original black and white incarnation.

In 1994, Nintendo decided to take a new approach to keep the market fresh. The Super Nintendo had a massive installed base, so they released the Super Game Boy to go with it. The device plugged into the SNES cartridge slot and allowed players to enjoy their handheld games at home, on a big, clear screen, and even with some limited color enhancements. Sure, playing your Game Boy games at home seems a little silly in principle, but some of them were addictive enough to be worth it.

The system premiered with an all-new version of the game that first catapulted Nintendo to international success: Donkey Kong. This was a far cry the faithful arcade ports that littered the Game Boy's library early on, however. It paid homage to the original in its first four stages, but quickly veered off in a new direction, building a clever puzzle game on the familiar foundation. Mario could now do an assortment of acrobatic new moves, and the levels were complicated with all manner of switches and lock and key puzzles. The new take on the iconic arcade hit proved to be an enduring classic and one of the system's best games. The Super Game Boy's commercial life was short, with the SNES itself fading from view within a couple years, but Nintendo couldn't have given it a better start.